Navalny wrote that he knew he would die in prison

2024-10-12 19:15:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, the staunchest opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin, believed he would die in prison, according to a book due to be published on October 22.

The American magazine, The New Yorker, has published on Friday parts of the book in which Navalny's prison diary and other manuscripts of his have been included.

"I will spend the rest of my life in prison and I will die here," he wrote on March 22, 2022.

“I will have no one to say goodbye to… all anniversaries will be celebrated without me. I will never see my nephews and nieces."

Navalny has been serving a 19-year prison sentence, under charges of "extremism", in a prison in the Arctic.

His death on February 16, aged 47, has been roundly condemned by the West, with many blaming Putin.

Navalny was arrested in January 2021 after returning to Russia from Germany, where he was treated for nerve agent poisoning in a Russian city.

"The only thing we have to fear is to hand over the homeland to a gang of looters, thieves and hypocrites," he wrote on January 17, 2022.

In his manuscripts, you can see the loneliness in prison, but without losing the doses of humor.

For example, on July 1, 2022, Navalny described his usual day: waking up at 6:00, breakfast at 6:20, and starting work at 6:40.

"At work, you sit for seven hours sewing on a machine," he wrote.

"After work, continue to sit for several hours on a wooden bench in front of Putin's portrait. This is called 'disciplinary activity'".

The book, called "Patriot", will be published by the American publishing house, Knopf, which plans to publish the Russian version as well.

"It is impossible to read Navalny's diary in prison without being horrified by the tragedy of his suffering, of his death," said New Yorker editor David Remnick.

In his last manuscript, on January 17, 2024, Navalny answers the question that has been asked by many people in prison, as to why he has returned to Russia.

"I don't want to give up my country, or betray it. If your convictions mean something, you should be prepared to keep them, and to make sacrifices, if necessary," he said./ Rel